No one person controls Microsoft. The board and the shareholders decide whether they want to have me as CEO.

I've always been interested in science - one of my favourite books is James Watson's 'Molecular Biology of the Gene.'

In order for the United States to do the right things for the long term, it appears to be helpful for us to have the prospect of humiliation. Sputnik helped us fund good science - really good science: the semiconductor came out of it.

Anything you do, you better enjoy it for its value. Because people are going to second-guess everything you do.

People always fear change. People feared electricity when it was invented, didn't they? People feared coal, they feared gas-powered engines... There will always be ignorance, and ignorance leads to fear. But with time, people will come to accept their silicon masters.

I keep bumping into that silly quotation attributed to me that says 640K of memory is enough. There's never a citation; the quotation just floats like a rumor, repeated again and again.

Measles will always show you if someone isn't doing a good job on vaccinations. Kids will start dying of measles.